Database Switching During Planned Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Planned events in IT systems, such as software upgrades, often result in significant service outage times due to the need to switch from an online system to a backup system, causing disruptions and financial losses for service providers.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves tracking changed data and determining if new service requests are related to this data, allowing the system to switch to a backup database during a planned event, synchronizing data between databases, and processing new requests only when synchronization is complete, thereby reducing service outage time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system switches from the online system to the backup system during a planned event, then service continuity is maintained, but service outage time increases due to the time required to stop transactions, synchronize data, and set up new connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-synchronizing data from the online database to the backup database before the planned event occurs. This ensures that the backup system already has the necessary data ready, eliminating the need for time-consuming data synchronization during the actual switch, thus reducing service outage time while maintaining service continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by maintaining a backup database that is a copy of the online database. The backup system can be switched to quickly without requiring complex data transfer, as the data is already replicated. This copying mechanism enables fast failover while ensuring data availability, resolving the contradiction between service continuity and outage time.
2Manufacturing precision
If the system stops all transactions and new connections during the switch to the backup system, then data integrity is ensured, but productivity decreases due to complete service interruption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by completing data synchronization before the planned event. This allows the backup system to be activated without requiring a complete service interruption, as the data is already prepared and ready for use, thus maintaining both data integrity and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by allowing the system to transition smoothly from the online system to the backup system. Instead of a rigid, complete shutdown, the system dynamically switches operations to the backup system that already has synchronized data, enabling continuous service processing while ensuring data integrity through the pre-synchronization mechanism.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the system synchronizes all data between the online database and backup database before switching, then data consistency is achieved, but the time required for synchronization increases service outage duration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing data synchronization before the planned event occurs. This timing strategy ensures that the synchronization process does not extend the service outage period, as the data is already consistent when the switch to the backup system is initiated, thus achieving both data consistency and minimizing synchronization time impact on service outage.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, computer program product, and a computer system, to store information related to changed data in response to a transaction with a first database of the on-line system requested during a planned period and data in the first database changed by the transaction. In response to a planned event a back-up system with a second database is switched to set up a new connection and a new transaction with the second database, wherein the second database is backup of the first database. The on-line system prevents setting up a new connection to the on-line system and prevents conducting a new transaction with the first database, sends information related to the changed data from the on-line system to the back-up system, and switches to the back-up system for a new connection and for a new transaction. The on-line system synchronizes data between the first database and the second database.